


Broken Bones

by JMount74



Series: Febuwhump [7]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: When his brothers go out on rescues Alan worries for their safety. But is he really safe at home?
Series: Febuwhump [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137590
Kudos: 11





	Broken Bones

It wasn’t fair, but that was just his life at the moment, and he was used to it. His brothers were these amazing supermen, he was the one left at home, waiting to hear that everything was ok, that they were safe, that they were still a family of eight. They used to be a family of nine, but…he pushed that thought down viciously.

So here he was, sitting safely in the kitchen nursing a hot chocolate while Grandma was busy monitoring the comms and once more the world was being saved by the heroes of International Rescue, the people he called brothers. Idly he wondered which disaster his brothers had dashed off to, but he was too tired to really care about the minutiae of the event.

He just needed everyone to be safe.

A sudden yawn caught him by surprise, and it was so deep and wide his jaw clicked loud enough that he was sure his Grandma could hear it across the room. That thought was compounded as she turned to look at him, an understanding smile on her face. ‘Get yourself to bed, kiddo, before you fall asleep on the stool and fall off.’ He grinned back at her and moved.

Alan wasn’t quite sure what happened next. One minute he was sliding off the stool, the next minute he was on the floor and Grandma was staring down at him. ‘Ow,’ was the only thought he managed before blacking out completely.

The next time Alan opened his eyes the face looking down on him was his middle brother, Virgil, who broke out into a wide grin. ‘Welcome back, Alan,’ he whispered as the confusion evident in his baby brother’s eyes started to clear. ‘What happened?’ Alan demanded, and winced as his own voice caused a spike of pain.

Virgil sat back, allowing Alan to see the room more fully. He was in the infirmary, and dotted about the room were his brothers and sister, all sound asleep. He turned back to Virgil with a question on his face. Virgil gave a soft laugh. ‘We’re all fine, it’s you we were worried about.’

He thought back. All he remembered was deciding it was time to go to bed. Then…nothing. When he focused on Virgil again his brother had morphed into Scott, and Alan started. Had he fallen asleep? ‘Hey sprout, how’s the head?’ Alan frowned. Ow, that hurt, he must remember not to do that. ‘That bad, huh.’ Scott’s hand came down gently on his forehead then moved to his cheek, and Alan focused again. Scott was talking, but Alan was already drifting off…

Third time’s a charm, they say, and the next time Alan woke up it was to a gently humming Gordon. He lay there, unmoving, as he began the process of working out what was going on – again. A glance over to Gordon and his brother was watching him. ‘Well, hello there, matey, and very pleased I am that you could join me,’ his brother said, in his best pirate voice. Alan smiled and squeezed the hand holding his, content to just listen as Gordon went back to humming what was beginning to sound like a sea shanty.

Before long the room began to fill up with his family, all smiles and gentle hugs now that Alan looked like he was going to stay awake. Grandma bustled around him, checking machines that he hadn’t even realised were there, until she was satisfied about whatever it was she was looking at.

‘Well done, kiddo. You managed to give me a heart attack while I was watching your brothers.’ He gave a sheepish smile. The pain in his head was still there, but reduced somewhat, and for the first time he was aware of a pain in his right arm. Looking down, he could see it was bandaged, and it felt heavy.

He looked back up and surveyed the room. ‘What happened, Grandma?’ he asked. She tutted a little. ‘I had just suggested you get yourself to bed before you fall off the stool, when lo and behold – you fell off the stool.’ He searched his memory, and he recalled the sensation of slipping.

‘I slipped,’ he started. ‘I think I banged the back of my head on the stool? And maybe my elbow too?’ Grandma nodded. ‘Yep. Got a lovely little fracture in the back of your skull and an olecranon fracture to your elbow where you landed on it. There’s a splint on your arm, and you are not to move it or try to bend your elbow further, young man, or you may need surgery to fix it.’

While this conversation was going on his brothers remained uncharacteristically quiet. ‘Four weeks you’ll be in the cast, and after that there will be physio. It will take around a week for the headache to go anyway.’ With that, Grandma turned away to get something, and Alan risked looking at his brothers, all waiting at the foot of his bed.

‘I don’t know, Allie,’ began Gordon. ‘We go off to England and fight a huge warehouse fire, rescue a ton of people, and come home with no injuries, only to find you, apparently not so safe at home, injured.’ The sheepish grin was back. 

Gordon turned to Scott and Virgil. ‘Ya know, maybe Allie would be safer if he came out on rescues with us.’


End file.
